Lighter-than-air vehicles (LTA), such as aerostats, blimps, or airships, are used in many different applications, such as near large sporting, entertainment or cultural events, or in large metropolitan areas to provide advertising or to provide high-level coverage of the events. Lighter-than-air vehicles are also used in high altitude applications, high altitude airships (HAA) for the purpose of military surveillance or weather monitoring. In such instances, the higher the vehicle can operate translates into an increased amount of area that can be viewed. Additionally, lighter-than-air vehicles that possess the ability to operate at altitudes above 50,000 feet, are not a hazard to commercial air traffic, are more difficult to detect and/or destroy, can be used for the surveillance of wide areas and thus provide a strategic and/or economic advantage.
Typically, the hull of these LTA and HAA vehicles are made from flexible fabric laminates structures which include lightweight materials which withstand a wide range of temperature variation, ozone degradation, exposure to ultraviolet radiation and daily expansion and contraction due to the wide temperature variations. For example, known material combinations can provide a laminate structure that that is substantially impervious to helium gas and provides protection from degradation, wind erosion and the like.
Lighter-than-air vehicles are also equipped to receive and relay communications, power, and other transmissions, either from stations located on the surface of the earth and to other earthed-based receiving stations, or to and from or between satellites and earth based receiving stations. Satellites can collect data from the surface of the earth or from the atmosphere via sensors installed on the satellites.
Although the use of transmission devices equipped on the LTA and HAA vehicles for relaying communications, power, etc., are well-established, the weight of the instrumentation can reduce operational capabilities by limiting the payload weight and/or shortening the flight time of the vehicle.